The Story of the Lost Thai Classical Music Ensemble: The Wang Bang Kholaem Ensemble

This article was written to answer the following two questions, which are 1) What is the history of the Wang Bang Kholaem ensemble? What were the reasons for its establishment and dissolution? 2) What were the factors that led to its success? Did the relationship between the ensemble owner and his musicians contribute to its success? The results were: 1) The Wang Bang Kholaem Thai Classical ensemble was set up around 2470-2475 B.E. The owner was Prince Krommaluang Lopburirames. The ensemble was dissolved after his death. The reason why he chose Bang Kholaem as the location for his ensemble, was that, in the past, Bang Kholaem had been an area of peaceful and shady fruit yards faraway from the capital city, suited for building a retreat for practicing Thai classical music. 2) The factors contributing to the band’s success and fame included the fact that the ensemble’s owner was royal and was really fond of Thai classical music. He had enough assets to be a patron to a large number of talented musicians and was able to assemble many great teachers to train his musicians. The fact is that the musicians of the Wang Bang Kholaem ensemble inherited musical wisdom from the Wang Burabha ensemble, which belonged to Prince Bhanubhandhu-wongworadech, his father-in-law. Among the great teachers were: Luang Praditphairoh (Son Silapabanleng), Phra Phinbanlengraj (Yam Prasansup) and Phra Phatbanlengromya (Phim Wathin). Moreover, he was also able to gather many gifted musicians into the ensemble. In addition, the ensemble flourished and fostered great interest in the social and cultural environment of the period which existed during the reign of King Rama VII before the Revolution in 2475 B.E. 3) As for the relationship between the great teachers and the musicians, it was based on very strict discipline. In addition to the fact that the owner was of high royalty, the relationship between the owner and his musicians was that of the patronage system according to feudal tradition. The musicians respected and adored the owner so they dedicated themselves to working effortlessly to build a great reputation for the ensemble.